tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297912672011-04-22T11:11:25.124+10:00Aiming to introduce some intelligent analysis, thought and discussion about the role of Christianity in Australian politics and Government and how Christians should act in a democracy.Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-71335620039302123512007-11-20T18:46:00.000+11:002007-11-20T18:52:46.888+11:00

Industrial relations appears to be one of the big issues this election. The current Government has copped a lot of flak about its WorkChoices reforms (not that they refer to it as WorkChoices any more...). Here's a bit of a break down about where the two major parties stand:Australian Labor PartyIndustrial relations has long been at the hearts of the Labor Party's policies, probably because it

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-18340041412727891962007-11-19T14:35:00.001+11:002007-11-19T17:14:56.144+11:00

Here are some notes on the broad ideologies of the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia. Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is a democratic socialist party and has the objective of the democratic socialisation of industry, production, distribution and exchange, to the extent necessary to eliminate exploitation and other anti-social features in these

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-90570115593065858692007-11-19T11:29:00.000+11:002007-11-19T11:30:46.376+11:00

The beauty of a democracy is that everyone gets a say about the way things should be run – we all get to make our viewpoint heard and get to vote for the people or ideas that best reflect the way we want our nation to be.The problem with a democracy is that we all get to have our say in the way we want things to be, but unless we all agree, we don’t all get our way. You can’t please all of the

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-19999534292945474022007-11-18T12:46:00.000+11:002007-11-18T12:49:19.596+11:00

How are you going to vote on Saturday?(Just a reminder to Australians, that there is an election on this coming Saturday 24 November 2007 - in case you had somehow missed it - not that I think that were possible)I know you'll do it by filling in numbers on a piece of paper and placing said paper in a box and I respect your right to privacy when it comes to what boxes you will tick on a secret

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-42192373750804290012007-10-10T15:26:00.000+10:002007-10-10T15:33:00.130+10:00

Just letting any interested parties know that I'm discontinuing this blog and will probably delete it from Blogspot by the end of the year.Obviously despite grand plans this year hasn't worked out quite as planned and I never really got running with this blog in the way I wanted to. In a year where issues of Christianity and Australian politics have been so much in the media I thought that I

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-63935792963156025502007-06-03T11:18:00.000+10:002007-06-04T10:00:58.000+10:00

I've talked before about the notion of a fair go, but it's interesting to see how much it is now being forced on the Australian public consciousness through Government and political advertising.In his Australia Day television advertisement, Kevin Rudd announced that:The Australia I want for the future has a strong economy but one where we don’t throw the fair go out the backdoor.The Government

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-72179025488100713952007-03-17T16:10:00.000+11:002007-03-17T16:10:04.623+11:00

The greatest pleasure I have ever known is when my eyes meet the eyes of a mate over the top of two foaming glasses of beerHenry LawsonMateship. It's one of the most significant and quintessential of all Australian values, along with a 'fair go'. It's part of the ANZAC spirit and has long been associated with what it really means to be Australian.What does it mean? It means being there for your

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-74960760154579259272007-03-08T16:11:00.000+11:002007-03-08T22:11:16.500+11:00

We saw earlier that God himself does not always act in a way that seems in line with the Australian notion of a 'fair go'. But what about his followers? They are not God himself. Should Christians give others a 'fair go'?In my previous post on this topic, I suggested that the notion of a 'fair go' had two aspects:The notion of a 'fair go' has two elements:We want people to do right by us and give

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-49622302030818964152007-02-22T10:31:00.000+11:002007-03-08T22:26:45.590+11:00

Your God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine! He folds his strong protecting arms lovingly about the paleface and leads him by the hand as a father leads an infant son. But, He has forsaken His Red children, if they really are His. Our God, the Great Spirit, seems also to have forsaken us. Your God makes your people wax stronger every day. Soon they will fill all the land.

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-60298047865359336782007-02-21T22:28:00.000+11:002007-03-08T22:21:22.530+11:00

Coming up here on Christianity in a Democracy - a series on Australia values, looking at God's perspective on the values and how they relate to correct Christian behaviour. The series will cover:A 'fair go' and A 'fair go' - Part 2Mateship"No worries" / "she'll be right, mate"Freedom and dignity of the individualEquality of men and womenFreedom of religionCommitment to the rule of

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-66505279421190796522007-02-13T15:20:00.000+11:002007-02-22T23:42:13.213+11:00

Greg Clarke has just posted on the CASE blog some interesting thoughts about Christopher Pearson's opinion pieces in The Australian concerning Kevin Rudd's Christianity 1. Funnily enough, I've been thinking about the same article and was working on a considered analysis. Starting with the article where Pearson criticises Rudd's 'Christianity' because he voted for the RU486 Bill last year:

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-90443953462603170822007-02-08T10:44:00.000+11:002007-02-09T19:39:30.324+11:00

A Christian approach to politics must start with loveOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-90673696706085430152007-02-05T18:40:00.000+11:002007-02-05T18:42:48.759+11:00

Should Christians vote? Of course we should. We are citizens of our country and we care what it is like. Some might argue that the Bible does not command us to vote, which is true, but it also does not command us to use the internet. Governments are instituted by God and in a good society that allows us all a say and a vote, we should not seek to discard that opportunity.As emancipated citizens

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-45554651491752663382007-01-30T16:40:00.000+11:002007-01-31T09:19:50.653+11:00

I am currently on three weeks holiday from work. This is a bit unusual for me - I haven't had three whole weeks away from work since 1996 when I was at unviersity and unemployed in between casual jobs. While I'll actually be on a 'going away' kind of holiday for almost a week, I hope to spend a lot of other time in the next few weeks reading.Since beginning this blog I've discovered how much I

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-61167150738603144682007-01-30T15:23:00.000+11:002007-01-31T09:20:31.814+11:00

Dear Mr AbbottI read with interest your speech that was published in The Australian on 27 January ('The Gospel According to Kevin') and on your website on the same day. Party politics aside, I found it a very insightful analysis of Kevin Rudd's position and the discussion of religion (specifically Christianity) in current Australian political debate and electioneering.As a Christian myself, I

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-79672446020813974792007-01-25T07:53:00.000+11:002007-01-25T15:04:00.534+11:00

"How Would Jesus Vote? What to look for in your national leaders"Ram Gidoomal with David PorterMonarch Books, London, 2001I picked this book up a few years ago from the bargain table at a Christian bookstore - it sounded a bit American and thought it might be interesting but didn't expect it to be very good. So, several years on and after starting this blog I thought I'd finally get around to

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-17707333208490696402007-01-19T10:20:00.000+11:002007-01-23T17:36:01.757+11:00

A big issue in the Australian media today - in print and on air - concerns comments by a Muslim sheikh concerning martyrdom, anti-semitism, jihad and which have been interpreted by Australian political leaders as hate-speech and inspiring terrorism. Kevin Rudd has gone as far as to say that the sheikh (an Australian citizen) shouldn't return to Australia. Coverage of the story can be found in The

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-63861341149237277002007-01-12T13:54:00.000+11:002007-01-31T09:19:31.076+11:00

Before getting into analysis of particular policies, it’s important to get underlying assumptions right: to what extent should Christian seek to impose their views and values on the nation through the political process.We live in a democracy, so Christians have as much right as any other member of the public to make their views known and vote for policies they agree with and the people who

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29791267.post-1168387405479267202007-01-10T10:44:00.000+11:002007-01-10T11:22:19.860+11:00

It is January 2007. There will be a federal election in Australia this year1.The role of Christian people, groups and ideas has been a growing topic of consideration in the last few years in Australia, from the emergence of the Family First party at the last Federal election, to all the commentary about the faith of the leader of the Federal opposition, to general concerns about the rise of the

Mister Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08825856773085135599noreply@blogger.com1